So, I am officially graduated and I am on to the next stage in life: full-time work.  I recently started my fellowship at the King Arts Complex, and I am learning so much!

When I agreed to the fellowship I was given the objective to develop and implement youth art programming, webpage, and financial literacy curriculum, market the KAC Kids Gallery and assist in grassroots promotion of the Heritage Concert Series.  Throughout the summer, I will be working in the classrooms to help the kids produce artwork that can be sold at the Kids Gallery during the Heritage Concert Series. My original impression of this was “Oh yeah! I can help the kids make some projects, teach them how to sell their work, and have them distribute flyers for the gallery! This will be fun!” By all means, it is fun…but it is also a lot of work.  Trying to coordinate all of the objectives I have into one coherent program produces just about an infinite number of possibilities.  As you can probably see from the picture, I am not the most organized thinker…I can come up with ideas and get excited about them, but taking that next step to make a decision and try it out is the big challenge for me.  Despite this struggle, we have had some success this week! The 11 and 12 year-olds were able to complete a successful project:

I believe they learned something as well! As the Kids Gallery is getting rolling, the kids have been painting, making beads and journals, designing logos, applying for jobs in the Kids Gallery (Art Dealer, Marketing Team, Designer, etc.) and learning about finances. I think the highlight of my week was reading the job applications. One student, when asked why he feels like he is a good candidate for the job replied “I don’t necessarily”, and when asked if he has any experience relevant to the type of work, replied “No I’m only a kid”. Another, when asked how she would handle working with someone who she didn’t like, replied “I would probably get in an argument pretty quickly.” I think this goes to show just how much fun it will be working with the kids this summer, and how many teachable moments will come up as we work together.

I am also learning alongside the kids: Today I wanted to jump-start the financial literacy curriculum by talking about money and value. I gave them a brief history of money (hence the sheep, known among the kids as “Kenny the Goat-Sheep”). We discussed how in 9000 BC, cattle and livestock were of value, and transactions occurred through bartering. Then, in 1200 BC in China, Cowrie shells were used as the first form of currency, which eventually transformed into using coins in 1,000 BC and paper currency in 806 AD. We discussed how the value changes over time, what determines value, and what has value today in society as well as in our personal lives. I asked them to write about what has value for them, and I got some great responses:

So despite the craziness of everyday office-life and the trial-and-error of developing a curriculum, I am having so much fun, and the staff and kids are amazing to be around. I am sure I will be back soon with some more stories!

-Jamie